When did suicide become politically incorrect? And, especially in this case, why? Mr Hennessy had a strength of character and purpose that lifts him above most. His tireless effort in trying to forward this "unpopular" cause was truly noble. Masking the fact that he chose to take his own life rather than live so sick diminishes his life's efforts -- by denying, yet again, the truly deadly nature of this awful illness. I think he was a brave and remarkable human being. His final act underscores this. RIP. ps: I am raising this as a general question, not targeting any particular person or persons.

This is a Memorial thread for Tom Hennessy, not a discussion of his intimate personal details.

Please, would a kind moderator tidy it up a little, so that proper respect is shown throughout?

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I am not sure there has been a discussion of intimate personal details or any lack of respect on this thread.

Again:

My dear friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that our brother Tommy died this morning. As you know, he has been sick for a long time (more than 25 years!) with an sickness that left him debilitated both physically and mentally. Despite his amazing life force throughout his illness, today he apparently lost his will to fight any longer and took his own life. We believe that he is with my dad and we hope that he has found some measure of the peace that eluded him in the later years of his life. We ask that you pray for him and all of his family as we go through the journey of bringing him home to Maryland and laying him to rest. Please forgive me for sharing this news through email. We talked to many relatives all day and I could not discuss this any more today. My mom is holding up remarkably well and she and my brothers and sister join me in sending our heartfelt gratitude to those of you who offered support to Tommy over the years. I hope you will remember him from happier times. With much sadness,

Mary for the Hennessy Family."

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A member asked about Tom Henessy’s death. I posted the FB post as an answer. The post came from somebody posting for the family.

Suicide carries a huge amount of stigma and sometimes people don't like to talk about it. We are taught by our families, the church, society etc that suicide is a shameful, weak, and selfish thing to do. Did any of the patients with ME who have died via committing suicide (and devastatingly enough I can think of quite a few) have any of these qualities. Think about this. Who of the people with ME that have committed suicide have been regarded as anything less than heroes or fighters. They were not weak or selfish. They struggled for years with an illness with no respite from it and in the end simply desired peace. Desiring peace is not shameful. People who eventually lost the battle in the end did so not because a weakness of character but because society, family, and the medical system failed them miserably.

In the end, what did Tom Hennessy die of -- ME. He now rests in peace.

Please note, these are my own very personal thoughts and come from a very deep place. Let's leave this thread as a memorial for Tom and if anybody wishes to discuss suicide and ME, please start a new thread.

Published on 2 Oct 2013
After suffering from complex immunological and neurological diseases for decades, Tom died on Sept. 9, 2013. In this video, we pay tribute to the great contribution he made in neuro-endocrine-immune disease advocacy. He and others left us a heritage and an example to follow.
PANDORA